question about a finish
 

I have a cz-82 in 9x18.I am panning on getting it redone to make it prettier.The finish is just worn and am considering having it nickle plated.I found some walnut grips for it and would like to hear some opinions on what would look best.Should I go for the nickle or just have it blued.

Re: question about a finish
 

I am probably out of date with this opinion; however, I feel that nickleand/or chrome plating can have a tendency to flake or peel when applied over a previous finish. There are quite a few other finish options available depending on how you want your gun to look.

Re: question about a finish
 

Plating is not applied over any other finish. The gun must be stripped/polished to bare metal before plating.

Re: question about a finish
 

Plating will cost considerably more than bluing and polishing needs to not only get down to bare metal but take into consideration tolerances as well since plating adds more metal than polishing removes. For example, it is very common to have to polish and file slide rails down before plating, otherwise the slide can't be installed after the plating is done. The same applies to such areas as revolver sideplates and cranes.

If you choose plating, make sure you have the work done by a gun shop that specializes in plating (or a plater who specializes in guns); folks who do ordinary metal plating usually don't have the experience to do guns right.

Jim

Re: question about a finish
 

Contact Robar, they have a finish that is called NP3, that is very attractive and durable. It also contains a small ammount of teflon that aids in the functioning of the weapon and speed up the clean up as well. Hard chrome or black chrome are other options, but they are platings like the nickle and subject to peeling flakingn and if not applied right will add thickness to the cycling parts and could impede operation of the weapon also. The NP3 finish has a molecular bond and isn't supposed to add to the any dimensions of the parts. Not especially cheap to have done, but I've never read a bad report on it fron anyone that has used it.

those who beat their guns into plowshares, will plow for those who didn't